# CPAN Module Scraper (`crawlerbros/cpan-scraper`) Actor Scrape CPAN (Comprehensive Perl Archive Network) via MetaCPAN API. Search modules and releases, or fetch by exact module name. Returns version, author, license, repository, and download info. - **URL**: https://apify.com/crawlerbros/cpan-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Crawler Bros](https://apify.com/crawlerbros) (community) - **Categories:** Developer tools, MCP servers - **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $3.00 / 1,000 results This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage. Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## CPAN Module Scraper Scrape module and release data from [CPAN](https://www.cpan.org) (Comprehensive Perl Archive Network) via the [MetaCPAN public API](https://fastapi.metacpan.org/v1/). No authentication required. ### What can it do? - **Search modules** by keyword, returning the latest indexed version of each matching module - **Search releases** by keyword, filtered to the latest stable release of each distribution - **Fetch specific modules** by exact name (e.g. `Moose`, `DBI`, `Catalyst`) - Returns rich metadata: version, author, license, repository URL, bug tracker, and download info ### Input | Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | `mode` | `searchModules` \| `searchReleases` \| `getByName` | Operation mode. Default: `searchModules` | | `searchQuery` | string | Search query for modules or releases. Default: `Moose` | | `moduleNames` | string[] | Exact module names for `getByName` mode (e.g. `Moose`, `DBI`) | | `maxItems` | integer (1–500) | Maximum records to return. Default: 50 | #### Mode descriptions | Mode | Description | |------|-------------| | `searchModules` | Full-text search across CPAN module index, latest versions only | | `searchReleases` | Search releases (distributions) by name, latest stable only | | `getByName` | Fetch one or more modules by their exact CPAN name | #### Example input — Search modules ```json { "mode": "searchModules", "searchQuery": "Moose", "maxItems": 50 } ```` #### Example input — Search releases ```json { "mode": "searchReleases", "searchQuery": "Catalyst", "maxItems": 25 } ``` #### Example input — Fetch by name ```json { "mode": "getByName", "moduleNames": ["Moose", "DBI", "Catalyst"] } ``` ### Output Each record in the dataset represents one CPAN module or release. | Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | `moduleName` | string | Main module name (`.pm` suffix removed) | | `distributionName` | string | CPAN distribution name (e.g. `Moose`, `DBIx-Class`) | | `description` | string | Module abstract / short description | | `version` | string | Module version | | `author` | string | CPAN author ID (PAUSE ID) | | `license` | string\[] | License identifiers (release mode only) | | `releaseDate` | string | ISO timestamp of this release | | `status` | string | Index status: `latest`, `cpan`, or `backpan` | | `mainModule` | string | Primary module name of the distribution (release mode) | | `repositoryUrl` | string | Source code repository URL | | `homepage` | string | Project homepage URL | | `bugTracker` | string | Bug tracker URL | | `downloadUrl` | string | Direct download URL of the `.tar.gz` archive | | `sourceUrl` | string | MetaCPAN distribution page URL | | `recordType` | string | Always `"module"` | | `scrapedAt` | string | ISO timestamp when record was scraped | #### Example output record ```json { "moduleName": "Moose", "distributionName": "Moose", "description": "A postmodern object system for Perl 5", "version": "2.4000", "author": "ETHER", "license": ["perl_5"], "releaseDate": "2025-07-04T21:24:15", "status": "latest", "mainModule": "Moose", "repositoryUrl": "https://github.com/moose/Moose", "homepage": "http://moose.perl.org/", "bugTracker": "https://rt.cpan.org/Dist/Display.html?Name=Moose", "downloadUrl": "https://cpan.metacpan.org/authors/id/E/ET/ETHER/Moose-2.4000.tar.gz", "sourceUrl": "https://metacpan.org/dist/Moose", "recordType": "module", "scrapedAt": "2025-05-30T10:00:00+00:00" } ``` ### Frequently Asked Questions **Does this require an API key?** No. The MetaCPAN API is fully public and does not require authentication. **What is the difference between `searchModules` and `searchReleases`?** `searchModules` searches at the individual Perl module level (`.pm` files). `searchReleases` searches at the distribution level — a distribution is a tarball that may contain many modules. For most use cases, `searchReleases` gives cleaner, one-record-per-package results. **Why does a search for "Moose" return modules from other distributions?** CPAN modules can be bundled inside other distributions. For example, a distribution may vendor Moose as a dependency. The search index includes all indexed files. **What does `status: backpan` mean?** BackPAN is the historical archive of CPAN — packages that have been removed from the active CPAN index but are still available for download. **How fresh is the data?** Each run fetches live data from the MetaCPAN API. MetaCPAN indexes new uploads within minutes of upload to CPAN. **Can I fetch a specific version of a module?** The `getByName` mode always returns the latest indexed version. To get older versions, use `searchReleases` and filter results by version. # Actor input Schema ## `mode` (type: `string`): Operation mode: search modules, search releases, or fetch by exact module name. ## `searchQuery` (type: `string`): Free-text search query (mode=searchModules or searchReleases). ## `moduleNames` (type: `array`): Exact CPAN module names to fetch (e.g. Moose, DBI, Catalyst). ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of records to return. ## Actor input object example ```json { "mode": "searchModules", "searchQuery": "Moose", "maxItems": 10 } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `modules` (type: `string`): Dataset containing all scraped CPAN modules. # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "mode": "searchModules", "searchQuery": "Moose", "maxItems": 10 }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("crawlerbros/cpan-scraper").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "mode": "searchModules", "searchQuery": "Moose", "maxItems": 10, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("crawlerbros/cpan-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "mode": "searchModules", "searchQuery": "Moose", "maxItems": 10 }' | apify call crawlerbros/cpan-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=crawlerbros/cpan-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "CPAN Module Scraper", "description": "Scrape CPAN (Comprehensive Perl Archive Network) via MetaCPAN API. Search modules and releases, or fetch by exact module name. Returns version, author, license, repository, and download info.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "JsBl65xnYDavinfMf" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/crawlerbros~cpan-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-crawlerbros-cpan-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/crawlerbros~cpan-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-crawlerbros-cpan-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/crawlerbros~cpan-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-crawlerbros-cpan-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "mode" ], "properties": { "mode": { "title": "Mode", "enum": [ "searchModules", "searchReleases", "getByName" ], "type": "string", "description": "Operation mode: search modules, search releases, or fetch by exact module name.", "default": "searchModules" }, "searchQuery": { "title": "Search query", "type": "string", "description": "Free-text search query (mode=searchModules or searchReleases)." }, "moduleNames": { "title": "Module names (mode=getByName)", "type": "array", "description": "Exact CPAN module names to fetch (e.g. Moose, DBI, Catalyst).", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "maxItems": { "title": "Max items", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 500, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of records to return.", "default": 100 } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```